Suigo Sawara Ayame Park

Katori, Japan, Japan

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Suigo Sawara Ayame Park is a large aquatic botanical garden in Katori, Chiba, located within the Suigo‑Tsukuba Quasi‑National Park just downstream of Lake Kasumigaura, and is famous as Asia’s largest iris garden. The park spans about 80,000 square meters and features over 400 iris varieties, with its peak blooming from late May to late June when roughly 1.5 million irises create the Suigo Sawara Iris Festival (Ayame Matsuri), and again in July when about 300 lotus varieties bloom for the Hasu Lotus Festival. A unique attraction is the boat ride that lets visitors glide through the waterways and admire the flowers from the water, and the park also offers seasonal blooms year‑round including wisteria and cherry blossoms in spring, cosmos in autumn, and narcissus in winter, plus a children’s play area and a dog park. Admission is charged (about 800 during the Iris Festival, 600 May–August, 200 April and September–November, and free December–March; 50% off for elementary and junior high students), opening hours vary by season (during the Iris Festival 8:00–18:30, Lotus Festival 7:00–15:00, and otherwise 9:00–16:30), and it is closed on Mondays except during the two festivals and from December 28 to January 4, with access about 20 minutes by car from JR Sawara Station.